Transport box and/or sales box for a sport article and system comprising such a box and a bag

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a transport box and/or sales box ( 1 ) for a sport article, especially for sport shoes or sport apparel, wherein the box ( 1 ) is designed to receive the sport article, especially a pair of shoes, wherein the box ( 1 ) consists of a lower shell ( 2 ) and an upper shell ( 3 ) so that a receiving space ( 4 ) for the sport article, especially for a pair of shoes, is established within the shells ( 2, 3 ) when arranged one upon the other. Furthermore, the box ( 1 ) has a first face side ( 5 ) in which a flap ( 6 ) is arranged which is formed from the material of one of the shells ( 2 ) and in which a cutout ( 7 ) is arranged which is machined into the material of the other shell ( 3 ), so that an opening ( 8 ) is established during normal use of the box ( 1 ). Furthermore, the invention relates to a system comprising such a box and a bag ( 21 ) for a sport article.

The invention relates to a transport box and/or sales box (container/carrier) for a sport article, especially for sport shoes or sport apparel, wherein the box is designed to receive the sport article, especially a pair of shoes. Furthermore, the invention relates to a system comprising such a box and a bag for a sport article.

The present invention specifically relates to the fields of transport containers for footwear, and more particularly, to transport containers housing footwear carriers that include a label and indicia system.

For transportation and sales presentation specifically footwear must be packed in suitable containers. Shoe boxes made from carton are well known in the art.

Furthermore, it is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,581,643 B2 to use bags for packing a pair of sports shoes which in turn are then packed into containers for transport and sales presentation.

Normally, a tradeoff must be done between an optimized transport container for the sport shoes to allow cost efficient logistics at one hand and an attractive appearance of the container when the shoes are presented during sales at the other hand.

Thus, it is the object of the invention to propose a transport box and/or sales box which allows an efficient handling and transport of the sport article and which is also suitable to present the sport article in a pleasant way. The box should be producible in a cost efficient way and should have a high degree of stability during use.

The solution of this object comes up with a transport box and/or sales box for a sport article according to the kind mentioned above, which is further characterized in that the box consists of a lower shell and an upper shell so that a receiving space for the sport article, especially for a pair of shoes, is established within the shells when arranged one upon the other, wherein the box has a first face side in which a flap is arranged which is formed from the material of one of the shells and in which a cutout is arranged which is machined into the material of the other shell, so that an opening is established during normal use of the box.

The upper shell and the lower shell can be connected permanently by a hinge element, which allows the pivoting of one of the shells relatively to the other. In this case, a preferred embodiment suggests that the two shells are made of a single piece of primary material, wherein the hinge element is formed by the primary material.

Alternatively, the upper shell and the lower shell can be designed as separate parts which can be connected to another by connecting means. In this case, the connecting means can be form-fit connecting means.

Preferably, the two shells define a midplane at their main contact area, wherein the flap of one of the shells extends beyond the midplane into the region of the other shell.

The flap can have a ridge in its edge region, wherein the ridge extends preferably perpendicular to the plane of the first face side of the shell. The ridge can also be segmented.

The shell with the cutout can also have a ridge along the boundary of the cutout, wherein the ridge extends preferably perpendicular to the plane of the first face side of the shell.

The shells can have a second face side opposite to the first face side, in which an opening is machined. The upper shell can have a cutout at its top side.

Furthermore, an embodiment suggests that the two shells have cooperating form-locking closure means for closing the box.

A preferred embodiment of the box comes up with a flap-like wall which is formed in the first face side of the upper shell which overlaps the flap of the lower shell when the box is closed. The flap-like wall runs down under a small angle to the vertical direction and thus overlaps the flap of the lower shell. The box can then be closed without any tension in the box; alternatively a slight biasing between the flap and the flap-like wall can be established when the box is closed. By this design the stiffness of the whole box and specifically of its first face side is enhanced.

The box consists preferably of paperboard or pulp.

Furthermore, the invention proposes a system comprising a transport box and/or sales box according to the above mentioned kind and a bag for a sport article, especially for sport shoes or sport apparel, made from a resilient material, wherein the bag can have a receiving space for receiving the sport article, especially a pair of shoes, wherein the bag comprises a handle for carrying the bag. Such a system is characterized according to the invention in that the handle and the flap are designed to hook the handle into the flap when the bag is in the receiving space of the box.

Preferably, a label or tag can be arrangable at or on the handle.

Thus, the transport and/or sales box of the present invention includes two shells having two open contiguous sides such that it allows for the easy placement and removal of products such as, for example, a footwear carrier (i.e. a bag containing a pair of shoes).

The transport box further includes an open section that is designed to accommodate a portion of a footwear carrier housed within the transport box. For example, a tag or label can be arranged containing indicia about the footwear within the footwear carrier. The open section acts to secure or lock in the footwear carrier within the body of the transport box, while acting in a manner that provides a user the ability to visualize the tag or label without further contact or handling of the transport box of footwear carrier. The open section may include a cantilevered detent portion (with or without bias) and a tabbed portion for aiding in the securing of the tag of label associated with the footwear carrier.

The transport box further includes one or more hinged portions, for example, a living hinge that facilitates the manufacture and transport of unused or unopened transport boxes. The one or more living hinges enable the transport boxes to be nested together in an open fashion that serves to conserve space.

In use and during assembly from a nested configuration, the transport box is manipulated along its hinge and adapted so that one end of the transport box will secure to the other end of the transport box. The securing means may include adhesive, tabs, detents, snaps and the like.

The transport container may further include features such as holes, appendages, channels and the like for accommodating the footwear carriers, labels and manipulation by a user. For example, the transport container may include a handle portion for placing a user's palm or digits to aid in its usage.

Once assembled, the transport container may be stacked securely on top of each other (with or without footwear carriers housed therein). Each transport container includes channel and ridge members of opposing sides that marry with alternative ridge and channel members of other transport containers. The transport containers can be stacked vertically using these opposing channels and ridge members and/or similarly placed horizontally. In the horizontal placement of the transport carriers, the hinge members may act as the channels or ridges.

The transport container is designed such that it is lighter and requires less material than a prior art cardboard shoe box. The transport container can be fabricated of pulp, molded fiber, recycled paper or more rigid lightweight components such as plastics. The transport container is durable and reusable by a retailer and enables a retailer to stack or place the containers in a particular location, while restocking only the footwear carrier housed within. Shipping of footwear, for example, would not require the use of prior art shoe boxes and would thus be less expensive, less voluminous and more ecologically friendly.

The footwear carrier of the present invention eliminates the need for additional shopping bags or cartons at the distributor, wholesale, retail or user level. As the footwear carrier (e. g. soft sided bag) does away with the shoe box type carrier, it is up to ninety percent lighter than the existing prior art shoe box and fits within shipping cartons with more efficiency, that is, more footwear carriers (i. e. containing footwear) per shipping box. This reduction in volume and weight produces great cost savings.

The footwear carrier is designed such that in its unbuttoned or open state two shoes can be inserted within the carrier with relative ease. The footwear carrier further includes a button and hole closure system such that the button portion of the closure system is housed within the interior of the footwear carrier facing the opposed interior wall, and the hole portion of the closure system is disposed along the opposing interior wall and opposite the button. During use and after the footwear are placed within the footwear carrier, the button is inserted through the button hole to bring the opposed walls of the footwear carrier in communication (i. e. both interior and exterior walls) and thus creating a central separator defining two pockets. Each pocket of the footwear carrier would thus contain one shoe. The separation of the pockets prevents the footwear from being chafed or rubbing together and preserves them in a new state for the ultimate end user.

The footwear carrier further includes a closure system. The closure system is designed to secure the footwear in place within each pocket and to prevent them from falling out of the footwear carrier. The closure system also operated as a label or tag system for displaying indicia and identifying the footwear or apparel housed within the footwear carrier. Further, the handle of the closure system is designed such that is provides comfort to the holder, that is, it is made with a broad width for accommodating a user's hand grip, while providing an area to disclose the indicia of the label or tag.

Specifically, the shoe bag can be made from a resilient material, wherein it has a receiving space for receiving the pair of shoes. The receiving space can be divided into two compartments by means of a divider made from resilient material which is firmly arranged in the receiving space. The bag can have a receiving opening at one end, wherein the closure mechanism can be arranged at the receiving opening. This closure mechanism can comprise a handle at one side of the receiving opening, where it is fixed to the material of the shoe bag; a hole can be arranged at the other side of the receiving opening and worked in the material of the shoe bag for threading the handle through the hole for closing the shoe bag. Furthermore, an indicia element can be firmly or detachably arranged at the handle.

The label or tag system is removably attached to the handle of the footwear carrier. The label system includes information relating to the footwear, such as, for example, shoe size, color size, color, style and related bar code information. The handle of the footwear carrier should be wide enough to accommodate the width of the label or tag containing the indicia. The label system includes a semi-rigid bar portion with butterfly or T-shaped handles on either opposite ends. The handles include adhesive portions such that they can wrap around the handle portion of closure system. The rigid body of the label system ensures that the label and indicia will remain upright and exposed for the retail partner user to view.

In an alternative embodiment of the footwear carrier, there is included a housing portion separated by a divider wherein each housing portion includes a flap portion and one of a button or hole closure mechanism. The label system for this footwear carrier is similar to the label system mentioned above and as such operates as a handle for carrying the footwear when the button and hole closure system are in use.

The footwear carrier of the present invention is manufactured of lightweight material, such as, for example, soft structured Tyvek, spunbonded polypropylene or natural fibers such as cotton. Preferably the material is generally water and dust resistant.

The transport container and footwear carrier of the present invention may be used with footwear such as running and walking shoes; however, it is contemplated that apparel and other consumer merchandise can be substituted for the footwear discussed herein.

In the drawing embodiments of the invention are shown.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a transport and/or sales box according to a first embodiment of the invention, which is empty,

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the transport and/or sales box during inserting of a shoe bag,

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the transport and/or sales box after the shoe bag is inserted,

FIG. 4 shows a magnified perspective view of the front part of the transport and/or sales box according FIGS. 1 till 3,

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a couple of piled transport and/or sales boxes for use in sales,

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the empty transport and/or sales box according to FIG. 1, seen from another viewing direction,

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of a couple of opened boxes which are piled in another,

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of the transport and/or sales box according to a second embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 9 shows a shoe bag in which a pair of sport shoes is inserted,

FIG. 10 shows the shoe bag with the inserted pair of shoes,

FIG. 11 a shows a tag which is to be fixed at the handle of the shoe bag,

FIG. 11 b shows the process of fixing the tag at the handle,

FIG. 11 c shows the tag substantially fixed at the handle,

FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of a part of the transport box according to a third embodiment of the invention and

FIG. 13 shows a perspective view of the transport box according FIG. 12 partially opened.

In FIG. 1 till FIG. 4 a transport and sales box 1 for sport shoes is shown. The box 1 consists of a lower shell 2 and an upper shell 3. Both shells 2, 3 are made of a primary material in the form of a sheet of pulp and are connected by a hinge element 9 which is formed by the connecting part of the material of the box. When the two shells 2, 3 are brought into the position as shown in FIGS. 1 till 4, they define a receiving space 4 for a pair of shoes.

A first face side 5 of the box 1 is designed in a special way. Here the lower shell 2 has a flap 6, which has a substantial flat form and which is formed from the material of the shell 2. The flap 6 extends substantial in a vertical direction when the shell 2 lies on a ground surface as depicted. The flap 6 has a ridge 11 in its upper end region (see specifically FIG. 4), wherein the ridge 11 extends substantially perpendicular to the plane of the flat flap 6.

At the first face side 5 the upper shell 3 has a cutout 7 of a substantial rectangular shape. Thus, when both shells 2, 3 are in the position as intended during use of the box 1 an opening 8 is established at the first face side 5. As can be seen (see especially FIG. 4) also the upper shell 3 has a ridge 12 in the edge region of the cutout 7. This ridge 12 also extends substantially perpendicular to the plane of the shell 3.

At the opposite side of the first face side 5 a second face side 13 is arranged. Here, the box 1, i.e. both shells 2 and 3, is substantially open, i.e. an opening 14 is machined into the material of the shells 2, 3. Thus, it is possible to insert or slide a bag 21 in which a pair of shoes is arranged (see FIGS. 2 and 3) into the receiving space 4. Specifically, as can be seen in FIG. 2, the bag 21 with the pair of shoes is pushed from behind into the receiving space 4 which is formed by the shells 2, 3.

The bag 21 has a handle 22 for carrying the bag 21. This handle 22 reaches the region of the first face side 5 of the box 1 when the bag 21 is totally inserted into the receiving space 4. Thus, it becomes possible in this position of the bag 21 that the handle 22 is hooked into the flap 6 as depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4. At the handle 22 a tag 23 is arranged which carries information concerning the type of shoes which are in the bag 21. In other words, the bag 21 is locked into place by latching the handle 22 over the flap 6 being a structural tab.

In the top side 16 of the upper shell 3 a cutout 15 is machined which substantially opens the box 1 in its upper region.

To allow an optimized piling of boxes 1 the bottom side of the lower shell 2 can be embossed to form fit with the cutout 15 in the upper shell 3. The piling of a couple of boxes 1 is shown in FIG. 5.

In FIG. 6 the box 1 as described before is depicted in another viewing direction, i.e. from the other side. Here it can be seen that form-lock closure means 17, 18, 19, 20 are arranged in a side region of the box 1. More specifically, the closure means comprise two projections 17 and 19 which are formed from the material of the box and are arranged at the upper edge of the lower shell 2. In the bottom edge of the upper shell 3 two corresponding openings 18 and 20 are machined. When the box 1 is closed, i.e. when the lower and the upper shells 2, 3 are brought into the position as shown in FIG. 1 the projections 17 and 19 engage into the openings 18 and 20.

Another detail becomes apparent as well from FIG. 6: The two shells 2, 3 are in contact substantially at a midplane 10. The flap 6 is designed in such a way that it reaches vertically upwards across the midplane 10 and thus closes a part of the cutout 7 in the first face side 5 of the upper shell 3.

When the two shells 2, 3 are pivoted away it is possible in a very beneficial way to pile the boxes 1 as shown in FIG. 7. Thus, a plurality of boxes 1 can be stored in a small space.

In FIG. 8 an alternative embodiment of the box 1 is shown. Some details are different from the embodiment according to FIG. 1 till 7. E.g. the opening 14 (see FIG. 1) is missing here, i.e. the box 1 is closed at the second face side 13. Another aspect is that the box 1 consists of two plastic shells 2, 3 which are composed in the depicted manner.

It is easy to see that the form of the cutout and the form of the flap at the first face side 5 has a specific shape to form the opening here which do not only serve for the transition of the handle of the bag but also to form a suitable hole for a finger to grab into the box 1 for opening the upper shell 3.

In FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 the shoe bag 21 is shown in which a pair of sports shoes is inserted. The handle 22 is suitable to carry the bag 21. While FIG. 9 shows the insertion of the two shoes into the bag 21, FIG. 10 shows the packed bag 21. In the unbuttoned state according to FIG. 9 the bag 21 is slack and the shoes slide in easily. In the buttoned state according FIG. 10 the shoes are separated to prevent them rubbing together; this is established by a divider in the inner of the bag 21.

A specific solution proposes the integration of a divider made of a resilient material such as textile into the shoe bag 21, i.e. the divider forms an inner wall in the bag 21 to form two compartments, one for each shoe. Such a divider can also run diagonally though the inner space of the bag. The divider can be sewed into the bag.

In FIG. 11 a till 11 c it is shown how a tag 23 is arranged at the handle 22 of the bag 21. The tag consists of a flat bendable material which keeps its form after bending. Thus, the tag 23 is fixed at the handle 22 by use of side strips 24 which are bent around the handle 22. The three FIGS. 11 a, 11 b and 11 c show the process of fixing the tag 23 at the handle 22.

Of course, also other kinds of fixation of the tag 23 can be employed. E. g. the tag 23 can be attached by means of an adhesive.

Beneficially, the attachment of the tag 23 at or on the handle 22 makes it redundant to attach a separate label at or on the product or on or at the box.

In FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 an alternative embodiment of the invention is depicted. Here is can be seen that the cutout 7 in the upper shell 3 is carried out in such a way that a flap-like wall 6′ is established. Although this design is somewhat similar to the solution according to FIG. 8, here the flap-like wall 6′ extends downward in such a way that the wall 6′ overlaps the flap 6 of the lower shell 2 (see FIG. 12). I.e. the upper flap-like wall 6′ comes down when the box is closed and hooks over the top of the flap 6.

The advantage of this design is that the stiffness of the whole box is enhanced. This is specially an advantage if a bag 21 is inserted into the box 1 and the bag 21 plus box 1 is carried by using the handle 22. In this case the flap-like wall 6′ stiffens the whole first face side 5 of the box 1. The handle 22 can thus not so easy slide off the position which should be maintained. Also, the stability of the box is enhanced with respect to forces which are generated by the piling of boxes.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

1 Transport box and/or sales box

2 Lower shell

3 Upper shell

4 Receiving space

5 First face side

6 Flap

6′ Flap-like wall

7 Cutout

8 Opening

9 Hinge element

10 Midplane

11 Ridge

12 Ridge

13 Second face side

14 Opening

15 Cutout

16 Top side

17, 18,

19, 20 Form-locking closure means

17 Projection

18 Opening

19 Projection

20 Opening

21 Bag

22 Handle

23 Label/Tag

24 Side strip 

1-15. (canceled)
 16. A system comprising: a transport box, and a bag for a sport article made from a resilient material, the box is designed to receive the sport article, the box consists of a lower shell and an upper shell so that a receiving space for the sport article is established within the shells when arranged one upon the other, the box has a first face side in which a flap is arranged which is formed from the material of one of the shells and in which a cutout is arranged which is machined into the material of the other shell, so that an opening is established during normal use of the box, the bag has a receiving space for receiving the sport article, wherein the bag comprises a handle for carrying the bag, wherein the handle and the flap are designed to hook the handle into the flap when the bag is in the receiving space of the box.
 17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the upper shell and the lower shell are connected permanently by a hinge element, which allows the pivoting of one of the shells relatively to the other.
 18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the two shells are made of a single piece of primary material, wherein the hinge element is formed by the primary material.
 19. The system according to claim 16, wherein the upper shell and the lower shell are designed as separate parts which can be connected to another by connecting means, wherein the connecting means are preferably form-fit connecting means.
 20. The system according to claim 16, wherein the two shells define a midplane at their main contact area, wherein the flap of one of the shells extends beyond the midplane into the region of the other shell.
 21. The system according to claim 16, wherein the flap has a ridge in its edge region, wherein the ridge extends perpendicular to the plane of the first face side of the shell.
 22. The system according to claim 21, wherein the ridge is segmented.
 23. The system according to claim 16, wherein the shell with the cutout has a ridge along the boundary of the cutout, wherein the ridge extends perpendicular to the plane of the first face side of the shell.
 24. The system according to claim 16, wherein the shells have a second face side opposite to the first face side, in which an opening is machined.
 25. The system according to claim 16, wherein the upper shell has a cutout at its top side.
 26. The system according to claim 16, wherein the two shells have cooperating form-locking closure means for closing the box.
 27. The system according to claim 16, wherein a flap-like wall is formed in the first face side of the upper shell which overlaps the flap of the lower shell when the box is closed.
 28. The system according to claim 16, wherein it consists of paperboard or pulp.
 29. The system according to claim 16, wherein a label or tag is arrangable at or on the handle. 